Hi, I’m President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. Either I’m trying to get the world really really pissed off at me, or I’m just being an idiotic asshole. You decide.
BBC:
“If European countries claim that they have killed Jews in World War II… why don’t they provide the Zionist regime with a piece of Europe,” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Iranian television.
“Germany and Austria can provide the… regime with two or three provinces for this regime to establish itself, and the issue will be resolved.”
Today I got a response from Councilwoman Maio:
Dear Cyrus, I felt as you did until I heard the program. Since
you haven’t, as you said, maybe it would be helpful to you to track down the Tuesday “Our Healh and Fitness” program and get a sense of what was presented. You might even be able to get a transcript.
Linda
After spending some time online, I responded with the following:
Dear Linda,
I’ve found and listened to the program that you were referring to during this week’s Berkeley City Council Meeting, which aired on KPFA on 11/29/05.
The professor being interviewed was Dr. Olle Johansson, MD, associate professor in the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
I’ve found the professor’s abstract on this site:
“An ever increasing number of studies have clearly shown various biological effects at the cellular level of electromagnetic fields, including powerfrequency and radiofrequency ones as well as microwaves. Such electromagnetic fields are present in your everyday life, at the workplace, in your home and at places of leisure.
Recently, a new category of persons with a physical impairment (electrohypersensitivity; EHS) has been described in the literature, namely those that claim to suffer from subjective and objective skin- and mucosa-related symptoms, such as itch, smarting, pain, heat sensation, redness, papules, pustules, etc., after exposure to visual display terminals (VDTs), mobile phones, DECT telephones, as well as other electromagnetic devices. Frequently, symptoms from internal organ systems, such as the heart and the central nervous system, are also
encountered.
. . .
In summary, it is evident from our preliminary data that various biological alterations are present in the electrohypersensitive persons claiming to suffer from exposure of electromagnetic fields. In view of recent epidemiological studies, pointing to a correlation between long-term exposure from power-frequent magnetic fields or microwaves and cancer, our data ought to be taken seriously and to be further analyzed.”
BUT, a quick search on “hypersensitivity” on PubMed (NIH/National Library of Medicine) reveals these studies:
Stockenius S, Brugger P.
Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. pbrugger@npsy.unizh.ch
We report, in 40 healthy right-handed men, an association between perceived sensitivity to weak electromagnetic fields and scores on the Magical Ideation scale, assessing experience of and beliefs in forms of causation that are nonexistent according to current scientific standards (r = .48, p =.002). Based on our previous research, we interpret this finding as reflecting human subjects’ propensity to assume connections between own organismic state and (objectively unrelated) environmental variables. We emphasize, however, the need for studies which directly assess accuracy in detection of electromagnetic fields as a function of self-rated electrosensitivity.
and then this:
Barth A, Maritczak L, Valic E, Konnaris C, Wolf C.
Klinische Abteilung Arbeitsmedizin, Universitat Wien.
HISTORY AND REASON FOR ADMISSION: A 44-year-old man had anginal-like complaints. He was convinced that cardiac problems had been caused by electromagnetic fields. INVESTIGATIONS: Apart from hypertension and hyperlipidaemia there were no other significant findings. ECG, ergometry Holter-ECG were normal. EXPERIMENT: We tried to verify with a double-blind provocation test if the patient’s complaints had been caused by electromagnetic fields. The patient was exposed to an electric instrument without being aware whether it was switched on or off. He was questioned about his perception of the presence of an electric current. CONCLUSION: The results of the test showed that there was no causal relation between the patient’s angina-like-symptoms and electromagnetic fields. The phenomenon of electrosensitivity was probably caused by psychological mechanisms.
and finally this:
“Hypersensitivity to electricity” in the office; symptoms and improvement.
Blomkvist AC.
Lulea University of Technology, Sweden. acbmodem@algonet.se
Nineteen persons “hypersensitive” to electricity and 20 nonafflicted persons were studied for 1 1/2 years. The most discernible hypersensitivity symptoms were pricking sensations and redness in the face, but these symptoms were present in only half of the afflicted. Other symptoms were similar to symptoms experienced during office work and this study does not support the idea that electrosensitivity is one single syndrome. The “hypersensitive” persons improved significantly, mainly on neuropsychiatric symptoms, but the skin problems sustained–as did the belief about their cause. The afflicted persons used less conventional medication than the group of the nonafflicted, which suggests a general tendency for attribution to environmental factors.
While I understand that you mean well, it seems unlikely based on this preliminary research that building a municipal WiFi network in Berkeley would cause hypersensitivity.
Thanks,
-Cyrus
Dear Councilwoman Maio,
My name is Cyrus Farivar and I am a technology journalist who learned my
trade while a student at UC Berkeley. I wrote for The Daily Californian
and watched the City Council take stands against various issues.
Sometimes those decisions are made with conviction and well-thought out
reasoning, and sometimes those decisions are made with half-baked ideas
that come from somewhere else.
When I found out that the Berkeley City Council was considering building
a citywide WiFi network, I thought to myself that this was a moment of
clear vision. How possibly could there be any downsides to this? Cheap
Internet for all Berkeley residents? How could this be a bad thing?
However, in last night’s City Council meeting you managed to turn a
discussion of wireless Internet access into a soapbox for repeating
something that you heard on KPFA.
I didn’t hear the program that you were referring to, but a few minutes
on Google lead me to the following reputable pieces of research:
I submit to you the following, quoted from the website of the Federal
Drug Administration:
“Do wireless phones pose a health hazard?
The available scientific evidence does not show that any health problems
are associated with using wireless phones. There is no proof, however,
that wireless phones are absolutely safe. Wireless phones emit low
levels of radiofrequency energy (RF) in the microwave range while being
used. They also emit very low levels of RF when in the stand-by mode.
Whereas high levels of RF can produce health effects (by heating
tissue), exposure to low level RF that does not produce heating effects
causes no known adverse health effects. Many studies of low level RF
exposures have not found any biological effects. Some studies have
suggested that some biological effects may occur, but such findings have
not been confirmed by additional research. In some cases, other
researchers have had difficulty in reproducing those studies, or in
determining the reasons for inconsistent results. “
From the American Cancer Society: “Cell phone antennas or towers are unlikely to cause cancer.”
And most recently, from the Electromagnetic Field Committee in The
Netherlands, via Reuters:
“AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – There is no evidence that radiation from mobile
phones or mobile phone and TV towers is harmful to people, but more
investigation is needed, the Dutch Health Council said in a new report
on Wednesday.
The Electromagnetic Fields Committee of the council, which advises the
Dutch government, studied fresh research from around the world published
between 2003 and October 2005, and said the outcome of studies proved
either inconclusive or did not meet scientific criteria.”
While I agree that health concerns are something that should not be
taken lightly, it would seem that the body of evidence would seem to
disprove your concerns.
I hope that the Berkeley City Council will move expeditiously on the
construction of a municipal network. When it is built, I will be among
the first to use it.
Sincerely,
Cyrus Farivar
Oakland, Calif.
BBC:
“We will always be Muslims, Serbs or Croats,” said Veselin Gatalo of the youth group Urban Movement Mostar.
“But one thing we all have in common is Bruce Lee.”
The FOURTH NYT article about podcasting, almost to the day of the first one that I wrote?
What is going on with the NYT’s tech coverage?
I was sitting next to a guy reading the January 2003 issue of American Window Cleaner magazine, formerly published out of Point Richmond, CA. (Now published out of Bedford, N.Y.). Who knew?
During my 17 hour stint in Paris I managed to buy three of the four Marjane Satrapi Persepolis comics in French from a bookstore in the Parisian suburb of Issy, where my aunt lives, for a total of 45 euros. (Shipping to the US would cost me 15+ euros.) I also bought a big duty-free bottle of Havana Club rum at Charles de Gaulle airport for about 12 euros and managed to smuggle it into the Commie-hating US of A. We’ll be drinkin’ mojitos at my New Year’s party, yessir. 🙂
[NASA atmospheric scientist] David Rind compared the warming trend to what happens when a major league baseball team owner spends lavishly on players’ salaries. Pumping heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, he said, produces the same kind of predictable results as boosting a team’s payroll.
“When they get into the playoffs, should we be surprised?” he asked. “We’re putting a lot more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and we’re getting a lot higher temperatures.”
But I do know that it’s true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could — if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.
— Bill Bennett, Former Sect. of Education under the Reagan Administration, as quoted on Fox News. Reported by Media Matters, linked from MeFi.
Q: Will there be an acquisition in the security space?
ELLISON: Sure, it’s possible.
ARGH! I hate the use of the word “space” in business/technology journalism. It’s so meaningless. What’s wrong with these other possibilities?
Will there be a security acquisition?
Will there be an acquisition in the security sector?
Will there be acquisition in security?
I’m reading John Battelle‘s The Search right now and he’s as guilty of it as anyone. I swear, if I hear about it one more time . . .
